7:16 PM ET NBA Insiders The NBA season is nearly a quarter complete and the contenders for the league’s top awards are coming into focus. Will LeBron James be able to add a fifth MVP award to his trophy room? Or, can a center win the MVP for the first time in over two decades?
NBA
1:59 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — Even with the NBA’s second-leading scorer sitting out, the Brooklyn Nets matched a franchise record Friday for the most points in a regulation game, dropping 147 on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 22-point win. “We’re getting there. … We’re slowly inching forward on both ends of the floor,”
1:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball is no stranger to trade rumors. He spent an entire season with the Los Angeles Lakers hearing about how he could possibly get dealt before ultimately landing with the Pelicans in the summer of 2019. But as Ball tried to
1:39 PM ET LA Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George cleared health and safety protocols and are set to return Friday against the Orlando Magic. Leonard and George rejoined the Clippers in Orlando after missing the first two games on this six-game road swing. The Clippers departed on the road trip without their two
12:26 PM ET Associated Press Alex Lasry, a 33-year-old Milwaukee Bucks executive and son of a billionaire, received the coronavirus vaccine this week at a senior living center in Milwaukee despite not being part of a group currently eligible for the shots in Wisconsin. Lasry told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he “just got lucky”
2:24 PM ET ESPN News Services Kevin Durant will not play in Brooklyn‘s Friday night game in Oklahoma City as he continues to recover from right Achilles tendon surgery. Durant played 42 minutes and led all scorers with 32 points in Brooklyn’s double-overtime win in Atlanta on Wednesday. He has played in 15 of the
1:59 PM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — NBA veterans Isaiah Thomas and Joe Johnson are on USA Basketball’s roster for the final round of AmeriCup qualifying next month. The Americans have already clinched an AmeriCup berth but still have two more games to play, against Bahamas on Feb. 19 and Mexico on Feb.
9:52 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell refused to remain silent on social justice issues off the court, becoming a go-to guy in NBA circles. His commitment to advance social justice coupled with his passion for education earned him the Offseason NBA Cares Community Assist Award. The award honors Mitchell’s efforts between
7:07 AM ET THE BALL BOY, too young to tie his sneakers, made quite the impression on Goran Dragic. The kid was the son of a veteran player on Geoplin Slovan, an Adriatic League first-division club where Dragic began his professional career. The boy, 5 years old when he first met Dragic, always had a
1:42 AM ET Mark the calendar: It was nine days into a seven-game road trip before the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers showed any sign of being vulnerable this season, in Thursday’s 107-92 loss to the Detroit Pistons. L.A. mustered just 34 points in the second half — the fewest the Lakers have scored in